Psalms 139:8 · Clearspring

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Other translations

WEBBE

If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!

BSB

If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

KJV

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

ASV

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.

BBE

If I go up to heaven, you are there: or if I make my bed in the underworld, you are there.

Original Hebrew

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אִם־ 'im- if H518 אֶסַּק 'e·sak I will ascend H5266 שָׁמַיִם sha·ma·yim heavens H8064 שָׁם sham [are] there H8033 אָתָּה 'a·tah you H859 וְאַצִּיעָה ve·'a·tzi·'ah and I will spread as a bed H3331 שְּׁאוֹל she·'ol Sheol H7585 הִנֶּךָּ hi·ne·ka there [are] you H2005

The early church

"If I go up," says he, "to heaven, You are there: if I go down to Hades, You are present" [Psalm 139:8]. At length, miserable runaway, you have learned, that by no means can you make yourself far from Him, from whom you have wished to remove far away. Behold, He is everywhere; thou, whither will you go? He has found counsel, and that inspired by Him, who now deigns to recall him....If by sinning I go down to the depths of wickednesses, and spurn to confess, saying, "Who sees me" (for "in Hades who shall confess to You?" ) there also You are present, to punish. Whither then shall I go that I may flee from Your presence, that is, not find You angry? This plan he found: So will I flee, says he, from Your Face, so will I flee from Your Spirit; from Your avenging Spirit, Your avenging Face thus will I flee.

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Expositions on the Psalms

"...if our heart think ill of us," i.e. accuse us within, that we do not the thing with that mind it ought to be done withal, "greater is God than our heart, and knoweth all things." Thou hidest thine heart from man: hide it from God if thou canst! How shalt thou hide it from Him, to whom it is said by a sinner, fearing and confessing, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? and from Thy face whither shall I flee?" He sought a way to flee, to escape the judgment of God, and found none. For where is God not? "If I shall ascend," saith he, "into heaven, Thou art there: if I shall descend into hell, Thou art there." Whither wilt thou go? whither wilt thou flee? Wilt thou hear counsel? If thou wouldest flee from Him, flee to Him. Flee to Him by confessing, not from Him by hiding: hide thou canst not, but confess thou canst. Say unto Him, "Thou art my place to flee unto," and let love be nourished in thee, which alone leadeth unto life. Let thy conscience bear thee witness that thy love is of God. If it be of God, do not wish to display it before men; because neither men's praises lift thee unto heaven, nor their censures put thee down from thence. Let Him see, who crowneth thee: be He thy witness, by whom as judge thou art crowned. "Greater is God than our heart, and knoweth all things."

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Homilies on 1 John

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 7–16

We cannot see God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. Whither can I go? In the most distant corners of the world, in heaven, or in hell, I cannot go out of thy reach. No veil can hide us from God; not the thickest darkness. No disguise can save any person or action from being seen in the true light by him. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies. On the other hand, the believer cannot be removed from the supporting, comforting presence of his Almighty Friend. Should the persecutor take his life, his soul will the sooner ascend to heaven. The grave cannot separate his body from the love of his Saviour, who will raise it a glorious body. No outward circumstances can separate him from his Lord. While in the path of duty, he may be happy in any situation, by the exercise of faith, hope, and prayer.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 139 →

Spurgeon · Verse 8

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. Filling the loftiest region with his yet loftier presence, Jehovah is in the heavenly place, at home, upon his throne. The ascent, if it were possible, would be unavailing for purposes of escape; it would, in fact, be a flying into the centre of the fire to avoid the heat. There would he be immediately confronted by the terrible personality of God. Note the abrupt words —"THOU, THERE." If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Descending into the lowest imaginable depths among the dead, there should we find the Lord. THOU! says the Psalmist, as if he felt that God was the one great Existence in all places. Whatever Hades may be, or whoever may be there, one thing is certain, Thou, O Jehovah, art there. Two regions, the one of glory and the other of darkness, are set in contrast, and this one fact is asserted of both —"thou art there." Whether we rise up or lie down, take our wing or make our bed, we shall find God near us. A "behold" is added to the second clause, since it seems more a wonder to meet with God in hell than in heaven, in Hades than in Paradise. Of course the presence of God produces very different effects in these places, but it is unquestionably in each; the bliss of one, the terror of the other. What an awful thought, that some men seem resolved to take up their night's abode in hell, a night which shall know no morning.

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Cross-references

8

Topics

Hell